POULTNEY — During the summer, students want to take a break from rigorous academia, but many also want to explore their interests with dedicated teachers.

To help accomplish this, Green Mountain College is now offering the Vermont Summer Academy for high school students.

“We thought this would be a good way for young people who may have an interest (in a certain topic) but never had a way in their high school curriculum to explore it in depth,” said GMC spokesman Kevin Coburn. “Students will be able to live in a college atmosphere that may help them evaluate what they want to do in the future.”

GMC President Paul Fonteyn said in a statement: “We deliberately picked subjects that are areas of strength in our curriculum.”

He added: “Our faculty has developed cutting-edge programs that prepare graduates to be thoughtful and productive professionals as they enter promising career fields. We have tremendous resources and knowledge to share with high school students who are just beginning to seriously examine their career choices.”

The course curriculum will be designed with a lot of input from GMC professors, Coburn said, but the college is in the process of hiring teachers with various specialties to run the actual classes this summer.

“We will make an effort (to ensure) classes are small to replicate the atmosphere of GMC (during the school year),” Coburn said.

The week-long classes will run from July 21 through Aug. 10 at GMC’s campus in downtown Poultney, except for the culinary courses which will be held at the GMC Lodge at Killington Resort from July 7-20.

Students can sign up for as little as one week, but may attend more weeks with different classes.

Tuition ranges from $1,175 for one week to $3,000 for three weeks. For culinary classes, the tuition is $1,275 for one week and $2,450 for two weeks. These prices include dorm lodging, three meals a day, course materials, facilities, and academic field trips.

“Students will be living in the dorms, eating at the dining hall, and having structured prgrams in the evening,” Coburn said. “It’s a hybrid of an intensive academic program with summer camp.”

Students will also have access to the college’s facilities, including the athletic fields, gymnasium and swimming pool.

“This provides a way to (immerse) students in a college atmosphere with outstanding teachers doing in-depth projects,” Coburn said.

For more information or to request a catalog, visit www.vermontsummeracademy.org or call (866) 928-2897.